Holder for cigarette package



Dec. 5, 1961 R. B. PORTER 3,011,649

HOLDER FOR CIGARETTE PACKAGE Filed Aug. 25, 1960 24 RNVENTOR ROBERT Bnuca PORTER ATTORNEY United States PatentC 3,011,649 HOLDER FOR CIGARETTE PACKAGE Robert Bruce Porter, 1716 King St., Santa Cruz, Calif. Filed Aug. 25, 1960, Ser. No. 51,812 3 Claims. (Cl. 21186) This invention relates to cigarette smoking accessories and deals particularly with a wire holder for cigarette packages.

One of the important objects of this invention is to provide a holder for the purpose described comprising a single strand of wire formed into a basket shape adapted to receive and hold a cigarette package and at the same time exert a clamping action on the package so that it can not be easily extracted from the holder to permit a driver of a car, for instance, to extract cigarettes one at a time, single handedly, and also to automatically accommodate the holder to variations in package sizes.

In conjunction with the above objects, I propose to use spring wire and bend it substantially in the middle into a U-bend, with the two legs formed into right and left hand sections, which in combination with each other form a holder for a cigarette package with no part of the wires crossing themselves or touching themselves, or each other at any point except at the extreme ends of the legs. A holder of this nature will be durable and light and with a vacuum cup placed in the U-bend, it may be mounted on any smooth surface such as automobile panelling or the like.

In addition, I make provision for detachably mounting a small panel on the front side of the holder. This panel is so mounted that it allows full play of the holder to adjust itself to various sizes of packages and also permits the holder to bring the clamping action on the package in the holder. The panel may serve several purposes such as advertising, a place to mount a mirror, or as shown in the drawing, it may be formed with a small upturned shelf at the bottom and used as a clamping ledge for a pad of matches.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent as the description proceeds in conjunction with the drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a cigarette package mounted in my holder.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the same.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing how the wire is bent to form my holder, the cigarette package being shown in dotted lines.

FIG. 4 is a view of the back side of the front panel as it would appear if seen from the line 44 in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a side View of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a front view of the same, and

FIG. 7 is a cross section taken on line 77 of FIG. 4.

Referring to the drawing, it will be seen in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 that I have shown my invention as comprising a wire holder, generally designated W, mounted on a smooth surface 11 by means of a vacuum cup 12. The holder contains a cigarette package C and carries on its front side a pad of matches M mounted on a panel, generally designated P.

Taking up first, the holder itself and how it is made, it is submitted that part of the novelty of this invention resides in the fact that the holder is made of one continuous strand of spring wire bent in such a way that it has all the characteristics to be hereinafter pointed out. First, the single Wire has several advantages which occur largely in the construction of the holder. By eliminating all joinings of the wire either to other wires or to itself, which entails soldering or wrapping of the wire around the joint, not only is labor reduced but one of the primary objects of the invention is achieved, name- 3,011,649 Patented Dec. 5,1961

ly, a spring action of the wire of the holder throughout its entire length which yields the clamping action hereinbefore mentioned and also provides the adjustable feature of the holder to difference in the sizes of packages. Also the cost of materials enters into the manufacturing picture. In my invention, the materials are reduced to a single piece of bare wire and a panel of sheet metal.

In FIG. 3, I have shown how the wire is bent to form my holder. Here it will be observed is a single strand of Wire W, bent into a U-bend at 13 forming two legs 14 and 14. The legs 14 and 14' are formed into right and left hand sections of the holder W in the following manner. Legs 14 and 14 are bent to form runs of wire 15 and 15' respectively, which again are bent into runs 16 and 16'. Runs 16 and 16 are then bent into runs 17 and 17' respectively, which in turn are bent into runs 18 and 18' respectively. 18 and 18' are bent into runs 19 and 19' which in turn are bent into runs 20 and 20' which run to the ends of the wire W and extend between the lower ends of the junction bends 21 and 21' between the wires runs 14 and 15, and 14' and 15', respectively. The bends 21 and 21' are substantially U-bends which are left open slightly to provide a tilt to the package holder when mounted on a wall, as shown in FIG. 1. The bends between the runs 16, 17 and 18, and 16, '17 and 18 are substantially right angle bends to form a rectangular opening at the top of the holder for receiving the cigarette package C. In practice, the rectangle is made slightly of less length than the package so that it will exert a slight pressure on the package and form a clamping action against withdrawal of the package from the holder by the extraction of a cigarette from the pack age. An examination of the wire forming the holder will show that it is free to swing throughout its entire length on both legs thus providing a freely expansible holder for the purpose described:

In conjunction with the foregoing, I provide a panel P which is adapted to be detachably mounted on the front of the holder and provide means for advertising or carrying some useful object such as a pad of matches. The panel is so designed that it can be quickly and easily mounted or dismounted and in no way will interfere with the functions of the holder.

In FIGS. 4, 5, 6 and 7, I have shown how this panel is formed and mounted on the holder. Here it will be observed, in FIG. 4 which is a rear view of the panel, that the upper end of the panel is formed with a pair of rolled over clips 22 and 22' adapted to detachably clamp over the runs 18 and 18' of the wire W. These clips are more or less loosely fitted to allow movement of the members 18 and 18' through the clip for expansion of the holder as before mentioned. Near the bottom of the panel, I strike out two small tabs in the form of hooks 23 and 23 which are adapted to engage the lower ends of the runs 19 and 19' respectively. These may be snapped in place by spreading the legs 1? and 19' slightly. The front side of the panel may carry advertising matter or any other object such as a pad of matches M. For this purpose the lower edge is turned up to form a gutter arrangement 24 suitable for receiving and clamping the lower edge of a pad of matches, as shown. The clamping action will hold the pad upright and a user may even strike matches one handedly.

A holder of the foregoing character will find usefulness in many places, particularly in automobiles where the driver will find everything handy and can make a single handed operation out of securing and lighting a cigarette. a

I claim:

1. A holder for a cigarette package comprising a single strand of spring wire formed into a U-bend substantially a slight angle to the vertical to form a return bend in each leg of slightly less degree than a U-bend, a short distance from the return bends the legs are formed into a right hand and a left hand section, respectively, of a rectangle, each section having a back wire, a front wire and an end wire running between said front and back Wires, said front Wires extending downwardly near the front of the center of said holder to a point substantially opposite said return bends, where they are bent inwardly to extend the ends of the two legs between said return bends.

2. Claim 1 and add, a panel adapted to be releasably mounted on the front of said holder, said panel comprising a comparatively small sheet of suitable material having spaced clamps on the upper edge thereof, each of said clamps being adapted to be releasably and loosely mounted on one of said front wires of said rectangle, there also being a pair of upstanding catches on the back of said panel near the lower edge thereof adapted to releasably engage said downwardly extending front wires of said holder.

3. Claim 2 and add, said panel having the lower edge turned up to form a gutter suitable for receiving the lower edge of a pade of matches.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 997,456 MacGregor July 11, 1911 1,365,689 Haywood Jan. 18, 1921 1,851,770 Johnson Mar. 29, 1932 2,021,496 Anger Nov. 19, 1935 2,185,299 Heraty Jan. 2, 1940 2,279,442 Burns Apr. 14, 1942 

